European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said Friday that the central bank is looking at options to improve lending to small firms, which form the backbone of the Eurozone economy.
"The ECB is today exploring options to further strengthen lending to the real economy and, in particular, to small and medium-sized enterprises," he said in a speech in Orleans, France. "But the ECB can only act within its mandate," Coeure said.
"Assuming non-profitable assets today present in the balance sheets of banks or seeking to artificially eliminate differences in financing costs arising from different risk environment or from insufficient capital would amount to substituting actions not taken by other actors," he said.
According to the policymaker, this would be detrimental to the central bank's independence.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.